Post 6: Japanese Noh

Noh has been a part of graceful traditional Japanese music for centuries. It is a highly stylized form of symbolic drama that involves 2 or 3 actors and a group of musicians dancing, singing, chanting, and playing instruments on a rather conservative, unornamented stage. Here is a list of the main elements of Japanese noh theater:

· Exclusive cast of male actors and musicians (female performers have begun to participate in modern days, however)
- Utai: vocal part performed by both actors and a chorus of eight male singers
- hayashi: musical ensemble consisting of 1 nohkan bamboo flute (the only melodic instrument other than singing voice) and 3 small drums (ko-tsuzumi, o-tsuzumi, and taiko)

· Few props and simple settings for symbolic use, if any

· Slow, deliberate dance movements by the actors

· Use of elegantly painted masks by the actors

· Standardized stories drawn from ancient narratives “told” by the chorus

· stylized speech and gestures characterizing certain emotions

· Nonpulsatile music giving great amount of freedom for expression and sense of time

· enhancing of musical tension through kakegoe, or short shouts and exclamations from the drummers

· Buddhist chant or shomyo-influenced style of singing, mostly free in rhythm and pitch with tense vocal quality
- kotoba: heightened speech-song
-fushi: song melodies

Reference video clip and website